Numerous shoes covering a broad range of different designs and styles have been manufactured and sold in the marketplace. While shoes are worn to provide protection to one's feet, to reduce the impact felt when walking on hard surfaces, to provide support for the feet, and to prevent pronation, shoe designers must still seek to provide optimum levels of stability and comfort. In order to accomplish all of these objectives, shoe designers have used a wide variety of different tools and methods including heel plugs, shanks, contoured soles, deformable pillars or columns, spring-like structures, different traction designs, cushioning members, different shank designs, different ventilation structures, rocker elements, pads, gels and sole constructions having a plurality of different layers. Although these methods can be effective, the large number of components can result in increased manufacturing costs and complexity. It is therefore desirable to improve cushioning, flexibility, support and stability without increasing the number of components to achieve the same level of comfort for the user.